MUMBAI: SoftBank Corp. has announced that Google’s Nikesh Arora will be joining the company in October as vice chairman of SoftBank Corp. and CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media Inc (SIMI).

He will be report to SoftBank Corp. chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son.

Arora joins SoftBank after almost a decade at Google, first running their European business operation and for the last five years as its chief business officer.

“As we enter the next phase of our expansion I can't think of a better person than Nikesh to help us chart that course. As Vice Chairman, he will work closely with me in defining, implementing and managing our global growth strategy. In addition, as CEO of SIMI he will be directly responsible for overseeing our Internet, telecommunications, media and global investment activities, which we have been developing over the last few years,” said Masayoshi Son.

“I have had the good fortune of getting to know Nikesh over the last five years. He brings a rare set of skills: amazing financial and strategic acumen; a decade of executive experience at one of the fastest growing companies in history; a deep understanding of the telecommunications industry. This makes him uniquely qualified to help guide us through our next stage of growth. Our intention is to nominate Nikesh to the SoftBank Corp. board at our next shareholder meeting,” he concluded.

Before joining Google, Arora was a telecom analyst at Putnam Investments. He then went on to create his own mobile data start-up in 2000 and also worked with T-Mobile in various capacities including as CMO of its European Business and a member of its board.

At Google, Arora was responsible for all partnerships, marketing, sales and customer activities in addition to being part of the company's management team. Arora has an MBA from Northeastern University, a Master's Degree in Finance from Boston College and graduated as an Electrical Engineer from IIT-BHU. He is also a CFA.